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  • We acquired this object.

2022

2025

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Book, Beautiful Shells: Their Nature, Structure, and Yses Familiarly Explained

This is a Book.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives as part of Sarah & Eleanor Hewitt: Designing a Modern Museum.

It is dated 1856. Its medium is hand-colored engraving, brush and watercolor on paper. It is a part of the department.

"To give his children pleasure and occupation, [Abram Hewitt] placed within their reach his personal library, delightful histories and historical fiction to fill the minds with the manners and customs of olden times and countries."

—Eleanor Hewitt, The Making of a Modern Museum

Edward Hewitt wrote in Those Were the Days (1943), “Our mother had an obsession about education. She felt we should waste no time during the whole year but have lessons in the summer.” One of the many ways their father supported this was through giving books to his children covering a range of topics from the arts to the sciences.

It is credited Smithsonian Libraries, QL405 .A213.

Its dimensions are

H x W (closed): 18 × 13 cm (7 1/16 × 5 1/8 in.) H x W (open): 18 × 26 cm (7 1/16 × 10 1/4 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Sarah & Eleanor Hewitt: Designing a Modern Museum.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318805780/ |title=Book, Beautiful Shells: Their Nature, Structure, and Yses Familiarly Explained |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=24 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>